


Strangers in the Park

by CeillieS



Category: Monster Prom (Visual Novel)
Genre: Babysitting, Dinner, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, M/M, pokemans go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-23
Packaged: 2019-11-04 15:52:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 3,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17901047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CeillieS/pseuds/CeillieS
Summary: Scott Howl meets Damien LaVey for the first time in the park.





	1. 1

Scott was watching a squirrel climb up one of the large oak trees in the park when he felt a tug on the rolled up sleeve of his red flannel. He looked down to see a small luminescent girl looking up at him expectantly.

“Mr. Scott, I have a question,” the 5 year old samovila asked seriously, while floating several feet in the air. Her blonde ringlets reached to her small waist, and it seems like they made her skin glow just a little bit. 

“Before you ask your question, Irina, you know we’re in public,” Scott admonished. “You need to be on the ground. We don’t want any humans to see you using your powers.”

The little girl wrinkled her nose at him, and he laughed. Sulking, she lowered herself to the ground.

“But now I can’t reach your sleeve! How can I get your attention if I can’t reach your sleeve?”  
“How about you use my name?”

The little girl thought about that as she descended to the grassy ground of the park he had taken the daycare class to. It was pretty secluded, so he wasn’t really worried about being seen by any humans, but as Coach always liked to remind him, it was better to be safe than hungry. Wait, that wasn’t quite right. He was always hungry. It was one of the “perks” of being a werewolf, or so the Pack had told him. 

He quit musing about the phrase when a sudden gust of wind hit him in the face. Specifically the face. He had apparently quit paying attention to his charge. Irina had focused her scarlet eyes on his face and was using her powers to flick little puffs of air from each of her fingers with a wicked smile.

“Or how about I do that? Can you carry me?”

He smiled tiredly at her.

“My name would have worked just as well. But didn’t you have a question?”

Her eyes lit up at the reminder.

“Right! Do you have a girlfriend, Mr. Scott? 

“Nope!”

“Do you have a boyfriend, Mr. Scott?”

“No, I don’t have one of those either.”

“How about an enbyfriend?”

“Not in the romantic sense. I do have several friends who are nonbinary, though.”

“But who do you spend all of your time with?”

“My pack, mostly. We played football and cookouts and we like to get together and howl at the   
moon whenever it’s full. It’s a lot of fun!”

“But… but you can’t smooch your pack! They’re like your family and that’s gross!”

“Ugh, tell me about it,” Scott grimaced. “That’s definitely gross.”

“But who do you smooch?”

“Nobody, right now. I haven’t found anybody that wants to smooch me and I want to smooch back right now. It’s complicated.”

Irena wrinkled her nose at him again and stuck her tongue out.

“Bleh. I don’t like complicated.”

“Me, either, kiddo. Me either.”

Scott looked around the park and realized that he had lost track of the other four kids he was in charge of. 

“Irina, where are the others?”

As if on cue, he heard four high pitched voices pierce the air.

“Son of a new moon!” he cursed.

He rolled his dropped down onto all fours, threw Irina onto his back and told her to hold on tight to his hair, and ran towards the sounds of their shrieks.


	2. 2

“Now where is that damned Bernard Hensen?” Damien muttered to himself as he strolled through the park, looking at his phone. He had seen on one of the Pokemans Go forums that the rare, dream-chasing Pocket Human had been spotted in the area, but only for a limited time. 

“I swear to my dads that if I don’t find him...” 

He was cut off by the sudden shrieking of a group of small monster children. Surprised, he roared back at them. A little bit of fire shot from his broken horn, and he let out a stream of curses. A large werewolf bounded up to him on the group of monster, another tiny, shrieking child clinging to the fur poking out of the neck of his flannel. 

“What is it? What’s the matter, kids? Is this guy hurting you? I’ll hurt him.”

The werewolf was out of breath, and surprisingly… handsome. But he’d threatened to hurt Damien, for no reason other than screaming children. 

“Pfft. Like you could hurt me, you oversized furball. I’ll eat you for dinner.”

The wolves pointed ears perked up, and a toothy grin split his face. 

“Dinner? Did you just invite me to dinner? I’ll go to dinner with you.”

Damien was bewildered. 

“What? No, I didn’t invite you to dinner. I was just minding my own business, playing Pokemans Go, when all of a sudden these ant-sized monsters start screaming. I mean, look at them! It’s like they got shrunk in the Shrinkinator 5000!”

He threw his head back and laughed. Damien noticed that his blue eyes twinkled in the bright afternoon sun.

“Monsterlings, There’s no need for you to scream. This man is clearly not dangerous - he just wanted to catch some Pokemans. We’ve all been there, right?”

The kids traded unsure glances.

“Uh, dude. I’m not sure that playing a very common virtual reality game is an indicator that I’m safe. I’m Damien LaVey! I’m literally a Prince of Hell.”

“Well I’m literally Scott! And these are some kids I’m watching while their parents work. So I can’t actually go to dinner right now. Cause, um, the monsterlings.”

“We can go back to the daycare, Mr. Scott.” Irina told him, Her fiery eyes not leaving the prince of hell. “You can talk to this demon.”

“What part of ‘I didn’t invite you to dinner’ did you not get, dogbrain? I’m still trying to find Bernard Hensen. It’s very important that I find him. For, uh, Reasons.”

Damien jumped when a barking sound came out of nowhere. 

“What in the seven circles….” He muttered. This was the weirdest day he could remember in a very long time. 

Scott pulled his phone from one of his jean pockets and beamed up at the demon.

“Oh! It’s time to go back to the daycare anyway, kids. Let’s get into line like we practiced!”

Damien watches, still completely bewildered, as kids obediently get into a single file line. He had never seen such abominably well-behaved monsters in his life. He was disgusted… But also a little bit aroused at the werewolf’s - Scott’s - masterful control of the group of children.

Maybe dinner wouldn’t be so bad. And maybe they could do some Pokemans Hunting afterward.


	3. Chapter 3

Scott watched the line of children shuffle back into the brownstone they used as a combination headquarters and apartments. 

“Polly, we’re ba-ack!” He sang. “Put the cocaine away or the kids will get into it.”

His poltergeist business partner floated through the ceiling, shaking her head at him. 

“Why do you think I’m always doing cocaine? I have many vices. I’m very dead, so it can’t hurt me. It’s just fun.”

“Well, yes, but your toilet wine isn’t done yet, and it’s too early for your parties to have started, so cocaine is usually it.”

Polly shrugged her transparent shoulders and looks past him through the open door.  
“Fair enough. Who’s the hottie in the sports car?”

“Huh? Sports car?”

“There’s a red dude with a horn and a half - on his head, don’t be gross! - staring at you HARD from inside a sports car with literal flames on the side.”

“Whoaaaaa that’s cool! That’s the guy we met in the park!”

“He’s Damien LaVey, Prince of Hell!” Irina interjected helpfully. 

“Like, literally the Prince of Hell? That’s so cool, boo!” Polly squealed. “ So, why’s he staring at you?”

“Uh, he scared the monsterlings so I threatened to fight him and then he invited me to dinner!” 

“Huh. Odd sequence, but okay. Well, judging by the body I can see through that tank top under his bomber jacket… mm boy. Yeah, you have to go to dinner…. He seems to like fire. Take him to get teppanyaki.”

Scott recognized the wisdom in her statement. Damien was pretty hot in more ways than one. I mean, he was sitting in a car that was literally on fire. Plus, they always gave him huge portions at the teppanyaki place, which was awesome!

“You’ve got the young ones?”

“I’ve got them! I won’t even let them into the cocaine. At least before their parents get here. Now go!”

“You’re the best, Pol!” He pressed a scruffy kiss into her cheek, causing her to laugh. 

“Wait a second - go change into something nicer than those clothes! You’re covered in dirt and dog fur!”

“Of course I’m covered in dirt! The kids and I were cheering for the earthworm races! It required a lot of digging! But I can change!”

Polly laughed and corralled the kids as Scott walked upstairs to his room. 

“What do you bunch of goons think of some Scott Snacks?”

“Are they actually made of Scotts?” A small gorgon asked, their voice trembling.

“Of course not! We’re monsters, not humans.”


	4. Chapter 4

The werewolf emerged from the brownstone, and the first thing that Damien noticed was that he had changed. Instead of the flannel, he wore an unbuttoned red Hawaiian shirt that showed an obscene amount of chest hair. The flames on the side of the car, powered by Damien’s powerful desire and a little bit of his ever-present rage, climbed even farther up the walls.   
Scott leaned on the lamp post next to the car, and yelped.

Ow! Hot! Ow!” 

“I’ve been out here for like ten minutes, dude.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t think the fire was actually hot! Fuck!”

The werewolf’s arm fur was smoldering. Damien pulled out his pocket fire extinguisher and sprayed it on his companion. Scott breathed a sigh of relief.   
“Thanks! That was so sweet!”

Damien raised his eyebrows skeptically at the man and noticed then that his eyes were a deep blue and twinkled, making him think of a starry night. He shook off the sappy thought, slightly disgusted with himself. He turned off the flames.

“I believe you invited yourself to dinner. Where are we headed?”

Scott beamed at him.

“You seem to like fire, so my roommate said teppanyaki? Did I say that right? I’m not good with long words.”

“I’ve never had it. Teppanyaki it is! How do we get there?”

“It’s just a few streets away! You can smell it from here, bro!”

“Not all of us have werewolf senses, dude. And I’m not your bro.”

“Right. Sorry!”

He ran his hand through his spiky hair bashfully, and Damien felt a pang of an emotion he wasn’t used to. This wasn’t anger or confusion or fear. He didn’t know how to process this new emotion, and that made him angry. 

Scott was fiddling around on his phone, passing it from hand to hand like a hot potato. 

“Okay, Oberlin Maps says you just go straight for two blocks, and then turn left and you’re there! Easy!”

“I’ve never gone straight in my life, dogbrain.” 

They both laughed. He did follow Scott’s instructions, though. The furnace in his stomach could use fuel, and if it had to do with food, fire and cute people, he was down for pretty much anything.   
The topless sports car screeched to a halt in front of the restaurant, and as soon as it was in park, Scott bounded out. Damien launched himself over the side wall, leaving the top down. Stuffing the keys in his pocket, he sauntered to the restaurant door. Scott looked at him, then back at the car, then back to the demon, his expression adorably confused.

“What?” Damien prompted.

“Aren’t you going to lock the car? You don’t smell concerned about people breaking into it.”   
Damien grinned at him, making sure to show as many of his bright white, pointy teeth as possible.   
“If anybody tries to steal this car there in for a very hot surprise.” 

He snapped the fingers of his left hand and flames raced around the exterior of the car. Scott’s face brightened.

“Well good! Cause I can smell all the food in here, and I’m starving.”

“Same here, dude. Lead the way.”

He snapped his fingers again and made his way into the restaurant.

“So what’s so fancy about this restaurant anyway?”

“You’re the Prince of Hell, and you’ve never had teppanyaki?” Scott gasped, clutching his Hawaiian shirt with one hand. “How does that happen?”

Damien shrugged. 

“I mostly order in. When I go out to restaurants, it tends to involve more arson than they generally approve of. I do love committing a good arson.”

“Arson sounds like fun. But here, they cook everything in front of you! And usually they light it on fire! And then you get to eat it! How awesome is that?”

Scott felt his tail started to wag. He loved to help people try new things.

Damien’s yellow eyes glittered, and he grinned slightly less menacingly in response. 

“I love fire! And food!”

A dark skinned human waitress approached them, hesitating slightly when she caught sight of the horns on Damien’s head. She shook her head, the wooden beads in her many braids. She had clearly decided not to ask about it. 

“You two must be in town for ComicCon. Nice costumes. You waiting on anyone else?”

“It’s just us,” Scott replied happily. He leaned towards her, peering at her name tag. “Thank you, Aiyana.”

“Right this way, then.”


	5. Chapter 5

“That was so good!”

Damien couldn’t keep his excitement about the meal to himself and Scott was thrilled. He had talked about it the entire drive back to the park. The meal had been delicious, even if their human companions had been concerned by the sheer amount of food that they were stuffing into their faces. 

Scott couldn’t remember the last time someone had been able to keep up with him while he ate. Then again, Polly didn’t eat, being a poltergeist and all. It always made things weird to go out in public and have food just drop through her stomach. Everyone tended to stare, and they didn’t do it in the way that Polly wanted them to. He let his tail wag as they walked through the park, not caring if anyone was looking at him. He had a nice tail and he knew it. He might as well let Damien appreciate it. 

Except that Damien was staring at his phone.

“Whatcha doing?”

“Looking for that stupid Bernard Hensen! I made a bet that I would be able to catch it today, and I don’t want to lose.”

Scott scowled. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened up his own version of the app.

“A bet? We can’t let you lose! Losing is bad! Let’s find that sneaky human!”

“How about we split up? I’ll try this side of the park, and you try that one? Here’s my number so you can call me if you find him.”

Scott punched the number into his phone obediently, sending a simple “Hi” 

“And if you find it… you gotta let me catch it! Please?”

“Of course!” He beamed. “I’ve already got him, and he’s a level 60!

Damien stopped walking, turning to stare dumbfounded at him.

“Wait, what?”

Scott had stopped listening. All of his attention was hyper-focused on the phone in front of him as the sky around them darkened to a dusky blue.

“Tammy Moore…Mildred Hargrave…” he muttered to himself as he walked. “Ooh, William Capuano the safety technician! I don’t have him yet!”

He tapped vigorously on the screen of his phone, making sure to avoid breaking his screen again. One of the problems with working out as much as he did and being a werewolf was that he struggled to keep a phone intact for longer than three or four months. Once he had gone six months without breaking it, and then had left it in his pocket during a full moon, and had lost it somewhere. He’d been incredibly disappointed. Polly made them keep really good backup records though, so he never lost much.

He let out a howl of joy when he captured the Pocket Human and threw his hands in the air in excitement.


	6. Chapter 6

Damien heard a howl from across the park and immediately went into crisis mode.  
Oh no, he thought. What if a human had spotted Scott?

He dropped his phone into his jacket pocket and sprinted through the trees towards the sound. He broke into a clearing, and saw Scott’s large outline shaking as he fell to the ground, his arms raised in the air.

Readying a flamethrower, he ran faster than he could remember running since the time he’d almost been caught breaking into Principal Giant Spider’s office at Monster High. By the time he reached him, Scott lay on the ground wiggling.

“Scott! Scott! You okay, dude?”

The movement stopped immediately, and the large werewolf raised his head

“What? Wait, why do you have a flamethrower? Are you okay?” 

“I heard you howl and then saw you twitching and falling to the ground! I thought you were being attacked!”

“Twitching?”

Damien could almost see the gears turning in Scott’s head while he thought.

“Oh! That was my Pokemans dance! Here, let me show you!”

And so he did. Up close, knowing what he was looking at, the shaking and twitching was more like a shimmy. Scott even used his pecs to shimmy a little as he wove his way to the ground, laughing the whole time.

“Put the flamethrower up and come dance with me, Damien!”

Damien laughed, and closed the fuel line to the device he held. He dropped it to the ground in a patch of dirt, watching to make sure it didn’t catch the nearby grass on fire accidentally. He joined the werewolf in the silly dance, adding a few twists of his legs to make it his own.

“There we go! Looking good, Prince of Hell!” Scott cheered. They laughed themselves silly, dancing to music that wasn’t there for no real reason whatsoever. They collapsed onto the ground after a while, still giggling, when Damien felt his phone buzz.

He whipped it out, and saw a level 27 Bernard Hensen projected onto the grass in front of them.

“Scott! Look!” His voice was squeaky with excitement. “I found him!”

“You gotta be real quiet and catch him!” Scott whispered. “I’ll cheer for you! Quietly!”

Damien tuned the wolf’s whispers out, focusing hard on the screen in front of him. He threw tie after tie at the human, trying to catch him. Finally, one looped around his neck, falling neatly into the collar of his shirt. He let out a whoop, and Scott jumped up from the ground in one graceful leap with another howl. He started pumping his fists in the air.

“You did it! Go Damien! You’re not a loser!”

He screenshotted the successful capture and texted it to Liam with the simple, succinct caption of “suck it, vamp-face!”

“Yeah! I’m not a loser! And you know what? You’re pretty rad, too.”

Even in the darkening park, Damien could see Scott’s cheeks flush.

“You think I’m rad?”

“If you make me say it again, I’m gonna deny I ever said it.”

“Right! Sorry! But you’re pretty rad, too, if you ask me. Which you didn’t. But… yeah.”

He was adorable. Not that Damien would say that out loud. 

“Tell you what, how about I walk you back to your house? I’ve got a party to hit before it gets too late.”

Scott smiled at him, his eyes twinkling.

“That would be nice.”


	7. Chapter 7

They chatted as they walked back to the brownstone. Damien kept flicking the lighter mechanism on his flamethrower as they approached the stoop. Scott couldn’t tell if it was a nervous habit or just a fidget. All he knew was that he was tired suddenly. 

He couldn’t hear any sound in the house. Polly was probably out at a party. He vaguely remembered her mentioning plans with their gorgon friend, Vera, but hadn’t paid much attention to it. Polly was dead - it wasn’t like she could get into much that she couldn’t handle. He fiddled with his keys, as they climbed the steps to the brownstone. 

“You want to come in and get a drink or anything?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the keys in his hands.

“Nah, I’m good. Thanks, though. I had a lot of fun tonight.”

“Me too! Will I see you around?”

“Oh, I expect so,” Damien said with a smile. “Go ahead and go in. You’ve been yawning the whole walk. I don’t want to keep you up.”

“Thanks for going to dinner with me!”

With that, Scott waved and let himself into the silent brownstone. He sniffed, confirming that Polly wasn’t home, and trundled up the stairs to his bedroom. Without hesitation, Scott dumped his shirt on the carpeted floor, and changed into the tree-patterned sweatpants and white t-shirt that he slept in. He heard his phone ding as he brushed his teeth.

He wondered who would be texting him this late at night? Polly would be much too busy at her party to text him, and he didn’t text any of the guys in the pack. They preferred a real phone call. He spit the toothpaste into the sink and wandered to get his phone off his bed.

It was from Damien’s number. His heart fluttered in his chest at the text on the screen. 

“Want to go to lunch with me tomorrow? I’ve got an extra place at a luncheon with my dads, and it would be cool to have some fun company.”

He texted back a yes with three exclamation points, then put his phone on do not disturb. He was going to sleep well tonight, and have good dreams about the nice demon he’d met today. He could feel it.


End file.
